This invention relates to the support member for the T-shaped lane dividers utilized with a lane barrier positioning vehicle. In particular, it relates to the suspension member which holds the lane barrier off the surface of the road while it is shifted from one lane to another.
In the last several years, it has become apparent that the positioning of lane barriers on major highways can drastically reduce head-on collisions. However, because of their nature, the lane barriers in their normal configurations are difficult to move from one lane to another to change the number of traffic lanes flowing in one direction. This situation is particularly apparent where the majority of the traffic will flow in one direction in the morning and in the opposite direction in the afternoon.
A lane barrier positioning vehicle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,225, which serves to reposition lane barriers from one lane to another. This vehicle is used with a specially-configured barrier having a T-shaped cross-section at the top ad described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,225. The vehicle has a series of rollers mounted beneath the vehicle which are in an S-shaped track so that a lane barrier can be picked up at the front of the vehicle and, as the vehicle moves forward, the lane barrier is picked off the road and shifted laterally to either the right or the left of the vehicle as it traverses the highway. The distance of traverse is calculated to be equal to one lane. As a consequence, after the lane barrier positioning vehicle has passed down a multilane highway, the lane barrier separating the oncoming traffic has been shifted one lane either to the left or right so that the number of active lanes traveling in one direction is increased, while the number of lanes in the opposite direction is commensurately decreased.
This system is in use on several major bridges in the United States, as well as in other countries.
The T-shaped lane barrier is supported in the vehicle by a number of rollers that are independently suspended below the vehicle. In more recent versions, each roller may be separately suspended from the vehicle by a spring-loaded member. It should be noted that the rollers are situated opposite one another so that there are pairs of rollers that support the T-shaped head of the lane barrier. In order for the lane barrier to be shifted from one lane to another, the barrier is made in sections and jointed between each section. Thus, when the lane is shifted from right to left as it passes under the vehicle in an S-shaped pattern, each section is shifted laterally. The separation between the section is kept as close as possible; however, it has been found that the independently suspended support wheels on some occasion will "hang up" in the joint between the two lane barrier sections. While the momentum in the vehicle is generally sufficient to jar the offending wheel out of the separation, there is usually some residual damage to the lane barrier and to the support wheel. After a series of uses, the support wheel must be changed and it may become necessary for the lane barrier to be changed.
It is an object of this invention to overcome this handicap by providing better support for the support wheels affixed to the lane barrier positioning vehicle.
It is a further object of this invention to improve the mounting of the support wheels under the vehicle so that there is less damage to the lane barrier and to the wheels supporting the lane barrier.
This invention comprises a double bogey support member formed of a U-shaped bracket defining a pair of downwardly extending legs and a cross-member interconnecting the downwardly extending legs. Two pairs of bogey wheels are included so that a first pair of wheels are rotatably affixed to one downwardly extending leg, and extend inwardly therefrom, and a second set of bogey wheels is rotatably affixed to the other downwardly extending legs, and extend inwardly therefrom. A resilient structure is provided to affix the cross-member of the U-shaped bracket to the lane barrier positioning vehicle so that the two pairs of bogey wheels can engage and support the lower surface of the T-shaped head of the lane barrier.